AU’s Burton D. Morgan Lecture and Lunch to feature Richard Seaman
Joe Lyons •
March 2, 2023
Richard Seaman, chairman of Seaman Corporation, author and board chairman of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, will be the speaker at Ashland University’s 2023 Burton D. Morgan Lecture and Lunch on Monday, March 20, 2023. The event is free and open to the public with advanced registration and will begin at 11:45 a.m., in the John C. Myers Convocation Center (820 Claremont Ave.).
Seaman will present “A Vibrant Vision: The Entrepreneurship of Multigenerational Family Business.” His 2019 book by the same name chronicled lessons learned from growing a small family business into a sustainable multi-million dollar business – the Seaman Corporation, located in Wooster, Ohio.
The annual event, held in memory of noted entrepreneur Burton D. Morgan, is hosted by the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at AU, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and is supported by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation.
“It is an honor to have Richard Seaman speak this year and to have our students and the community learn how he grew and sustained a family business,” said Tom Sudow, director of the Burton D. Morgan Center at AU. “He is a most appropriate speaker to present on the 20th anniversary of the Morgan Center as someone who knew Burt Morgan personally and has been a leader in (his) foundation, which maintains the ideals that were so important to Burt Morgan.”
Seaman joined Seaman Corporation as a plant manager and served as CEO from 1976 to 2015. He assumed the leadership role of the family business after his father passed away at the age of 55. Under his leadership, the industrial-coated fabric business increased its revenue from $10 million to more than $150 million. He served as commissioner of the Ohio Third Frontier, was recognized as an honored life member of his industry trade organization, the Industrial Fabrics Association International, and was selected as a Wall of Fame honoree by the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, Seaman was chosen by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year for northeast Ohio.
Reservations are requested for those attending the event, and they can be made here. For additional information, contact Tom Sudow at tsudow@ashland.edu or 216-396-4030.
Ashland’s Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship Studies, established in 2003, focuses on serving the educational needs of students by actively promoting, encouraging and developing entrepreneurial knowledge through experiential learning. The center facilitates, and its programs, serve as a vital tool in the overall integration of entrepreneurship across the AU campus, allowing students opportunities to practice entrepreneurial skills in a low-risk environment.